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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. file — a line of people
  3. capital — money
  4. file — a tool
  5. row — a line
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. bark — to shout
  8. board — a committee
  9. land — ground
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. file — a document
  12. rock — music
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. rock — a stone
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. capital — a city
  19. board — to get on
  20. land — to come down
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. row — to paddle
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. land — a country

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com